Wordless Wednesday

 

My hubby took this photo so I can't take the credit.

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Taking kids out to eat

This is sooooooo true to life!

Baby Blues cartoon.

Thanks, Carrie at Mommy Brain, for the tip.Pin It

Bad blood

Yep, I have bad blood. I had my cholesterol checked and it is way too high. Sigh. I'm too young! :)

My doctor is sending me to a dietitian to see what we can do with diet changes. Goodbye scrambled eggs, hello oatmeal.

I asked my husband to get his checked since I want to share in the misery. His diet is worse than mine, anyway. Of course there is the chance that his cholesterol is just fine.Pin It

MOM song

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Love paper?

I found a very cool site filled with all kinds of paper goodies (and other fun things). Perfect for scrapbooking, kids pretend games, card making, etc. I could really go crazy here but I'll try to be good.

Papier Valise Provisions.

Here's a taste.Pin It

Need an artistic outlet?

Try out this website. Here is what I created.

I'm going to show the website to my boys tomorrow. Double click the left mouse button to change colour and use the space bar to erase the image and start over.Pin It

GrandDad here this week

I won't have very much time for posting this week. My father in law is coming to visit today (from eastern Canada) and will be staying for a week. We are *really* hoping the weather improves so we can do some fun things outside. If not, we'll be headed to the Science Museum later this week. My oldest doesn't want to skip preschool even with our special visitor here.Pin It

Fun personality test!

This was fun even thought I'm not sure I agree with the results. I think I'm a bit more like Piglet or Owl.

Your Score: Eeyore

You scored 16 Ego, 18 Anxiety, and 9 Agency!

"Do you know what A means, little Piglet?"

"No, Eeyore, I don't."

"It means Learning, it means Education, it means all
the things that you and Pooh haven't got. That's what A means."

"Oh," said Piglet again. "I mean, does it?" he
explained quickly.

"I'm telling you. People come and go in this Forest,
and they say, 'It's only Eeyore, so it doesn't count.' They
walk to and fro saying 'Ha ha!' But do they know anything about
A? They don't. It's just three sticks to them. But to the
Educated--mark this, little Piglet--to the Educated, not
meaning Poohs and Piglets, it's a great and glorious A.

You scored as Eeyore!

ABOUT EEYORE: Eeyore lives in his own thistley corner of the forest and wonders why people don't come to visit him more often. He is master of the Guilt Trip, and is always gently forgiving his visitors for neglecting him. Eeyore considers himself to be smarter than the other inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood, and is often exasperated by their habit of having adventures and general merriment.

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are an anxious person, and you tend to expect the worst. Your friends find you somewhat cynical at times, because you have found that it is best to expect disappointment. You often feel unappreciated by the people you work with, but you rarely actually try and do anything to change that fact.

Your close friends admire you more than you think they do. They wish that you would learn to stop worrying so much and actually start trying to fix what is bothering you. If something is making you unhappy... change it!

Link: The Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

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DVDs that won't rot their brains

My boys don't watch TV, as such. They have approximately one hour per day to watch videos or DVDs. They call it TV time. It allows me to get supper ready without interruption, usually.

I thought I would list some of our favourites. Now to make this list, it has to not be annoying to me and be somewhat educational. We occasionally buy a DVD or video but we get a lot from our excellent local library. I prefer to get DVDs/videos that aren't movies. Movies are longer than an hour so they get mad when it is time to turn it off. No duh!

Remember my boys are 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 and they don't like anything scary.

The Usual Suspects:
- Bob the Builder - I actually think most of them are pretty funny.
- Thomas the Tank engine
- Cars movie
- Curious George movie

Real animals theme:
- Babe
- Milo and Otis
- Napoleon (there is frequent use of the word stupid in this that I don't like)
- Hammy Hamster - Tales of the Riverbank. This is a Canadian show which uses real animals from way back but it is now appearing on Animal Planet. We bought a few DVDs from Amazon. My husband and I watched this when we were kids. Ah, the nostalgia.
- my boys also liked Homeward Bound - The Incredible Journey (movie). However, I didn't like the frequent name calling and put-downs in it so it has stayed at the library.

Non-fiction theme:

- This is America Charlie Brown - I reviewed this one before.

- Peep and the Big Wide World. This is a new discovery. It is a science show for kids. It combines animation and video of children doing experiments or observing nature. They have a website that my oldest goes to every morning.

- Real Wheels Series. There Goes a ....... My boys have seen almost every one of these! Dave is a funny guy - slapstick humour that appeals to preschoolers. They are definitely educational since they are non-fiction. My boys have seen Truck, Fire Engine, Bulldozer, Monster Truck, Tractor, Mail Truck, Garbage Truck, Farm Truck, Race Car, Tank, Train, and Police Car. There are even more in the series!

Music theme:
- Raffi in Concert - we love Raffi.
- Laurie Berkner in Concert (one caveat - she and her back up singer wear clothes that I consider somewhat inappropriate)
- The Wiggles - Top of the Tots and Big Red Car are our favourites.
- Mary Poppins
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - don't watch the last half, though. It is way too scary. There is a character called the "Child Catcher" and his job is to catch children. Bizarre!

Veggie Tales
- my boys like *some* of these. Madame Blueberry (about contentment), Jonah, Lyle the Kindly Viking, and Josh and the Big Wall.

Classic Disney:
- Lady and the Tramp
- Dumbo

Miscellaneous:

- Kipper the Dog. I love the English accents. These are pretty funny. I'm not sure about the educational value but they have a slow pace which I appreciate.

- Max and Ruby. I don't think these shows are educational and Ruby's voice can be annoying but they are hilarious. My youngest is a lot like Max but he talks muchmore since Max talks in single syllables.

- Richard Scarry. I have a soft spot in my heart for Richard Scarry and so does my husband. We remember reading his books when we were kids. There are several good Richard Scarry videos:
Best ABC Video Ever, Best Counting Video Ever, Best Busy People Video, Sing A Long Mother Goose and a few others.

We recently introduced our boys to the Muppet Show another childhood favourite. It is available on Netflix.

And, last but not least, probably our all time favourite:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I love that is takes actual pages from the book and intersperses it with animation. This was produced in 1977.

I hope you got some new ideas from my list. Did I leave any of your favs out? Disney's Jungle Book is one I'd like to try out on my boys soon.Pin It

This stuff is great!

We went to a teacher's store today - Lakeshore Learning. It is a great place - so many great arts and craft supplies, toys and educational materials.

I bought the boys 2 small packs of this:
Play Foam! I couldn't believe how long they played with it! It doesn't dry out like play dough and can be reshaped over and over. Super easy to clean up. It reminds me of rice crispy treats but in a good way.

We didn't make anything elaborate like the photo, btw.Pin It